Why are my Habaneros so small?

D

dmoore714

The first big harvest off my habanero plant was decent.  Nice big healthy pods.  The last harvest (yesterday) was not that great.  Lots of pods - probably the most I've taken off a single plant at a time.  But most of them were tiny.  1" long or less.  I've been looking in this forum for answers and Ive found a number of possibilities.  I'll list them off below and ask people to take a shot at which might be my problem.
 
1)  Too much nitrogen.

I was using miracle grow granulated fertilizer in my watering can earlier in the year.  But I quit at least 2 months ago.  Since then they have only been getting regular water.  And the soil is a mix of potting soil and Black Kow that I have not added to since I potted them.  I don't think this is the answer - but you never know
 
2)  Not enough water

This could be the case.  When I had the peppers in the back yard they were close to my auto watering system - so they got water twice a day.  Now, on the porch, they get water once a day - usually when I come home for lunch.  The plants look healthy (though I admit - sometimes I forget and they get all wilty).  But when I water again they bounce right back.
 
3)  Cold night time temps

I live in Southwest Georgia.  It won't get "cold" by my standard for another few months. But it has dipped down into the 60s once or twice in the last few weeks.  Is it time to bring the peppers inside?
 
Anything else I may have missed?  And is there time to fix it so I can get at least one more round of pods off this plant?

 
 
Maybe if you had more pods hanging at the same time this time, than you had hanging last time...
 
Follow me? It reads confusingly.
 
...Maybe the plant was trying to distribute its energy into more of them than last time, resulting in more, but smaller, pods.
 
Cold temperatures can make your habaneros embarrassingly small.
 
Nutrition and light intensity. Temps in the low 60s aren't a problem though,my highs are in the 60s. A container will typically put out smaller pods compared to plants in the ground,especially if it is a small container and the nutrients are leached out. I stay away from water soluble fertilizers for containers,it's just too much work to keep them fed.
 
Thanks for the responses.  All good info.  I'll look for a non-water-soluble fertilizer (one that is not overdosed on nitrogen).  And I may move the plants back to the backyard where they will get more sun and more consistent watering

PepperDaddler said:
...Maybe the plant was trying to distribute its energy into more of them than last time, resulting in more, but smaller, pods.
Click to expand...
 
That's true.  There were a BUNCH of pods on the plant this time.  How many is too many though?  If I notice a plant producing more pods than it can support, should I do some maintenance picking to thin out the pods so the ones it produces are bigger/healthier?
 
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